Bloodlines
by My-Little-Poison-Secret
Summary: Light is part of a hunter family, one of twelve original bloodlines, and all he wants is to claim the title of Hunter. L is hunting an old successor of his who's taste has turned to that of his own race. With the death-toll rising and a life-altering attack, will sparks or stakes fly? AU boyxboy.
1. Disclaimer

Disclaimer

I'm using this 'disclaimer' as the cover for my work. The ideas and plot belong to me but the characters belong to their respective owners, as do any references made about brand names or other things that clearly do not belong to me. I do not own Death Note. Got it? Me no own. Now here's hoping that having this as the opening chapter is enough to keep me from getting sued.

Characters will be OOC and this fic is set in an AU place.


	2. Prologue

Prologue

For centuries, generation upon generation of families were born into bloodlines devoted to the utter decimation of the vampiric race. Of the twelve original hunter-bloodlines, only six remained. Of those six, only three were of the pure kind. Many hunters were born into a family. Some though, from ordinary bloodlines, took up the fabled stake and holy items used against the accursed dead, due to personal vendettas. Those few born within the three pure bloodlines were cursed with the knowledge of the supernatural, and due to the blood running in their veins, were unable to deny the need to eradicate the world of vampires.

One of the three remaining pure bloodlines, were known as the Yagami's. Another, was simply known as the 'lost' bloodline, the only one believed to have been turned into the very things they hunted.

Despite being carriers of such a prestigious bloodline, each member within the small four person family, lived to what one could consider 'normal' standard. Sachiko, a stay-at-home-mother, with a nasty habit of carrying hidden weapons on her person at _all_ times. Sayu, the youngest of the small family, but no less deadly. She was already known for having a temper and already had seven kills to her name. Despite her hand in the deaths of the vampires, she was a fairly popular girl attending school and struggling with homework and grades.

Soichiro, while not only the head of the family, was also a notorious hunter and chief of the NPA. Having reached the conclusion early in life that tracking vampire kills would be easier on the other side of law enforcement, he proceeded to not only hunt the cursed creatures of the night, but the human variety also. And though the Yagami family line continuously gave life to an acclaimed hunter; be it male or female, none could boast a greater achievement then the prodigy son Light. Barely within his early teens, Light had not only gained a kill total of thirty to his name, but was also scoring high academically and within his preferred sport tennis, and solving police cases on the side.

Every month one of the Yagami's were likely to gain a kill to their name. Mostly on weekends or school holidays when Soichiro and Sachiko took both Light and Sayu out into the wilderness and left them deserted with minimal supplies and a host of captured, angry vampires.

It wasn't long before nests within became vengeful, each plotting with a sister nest in similar situations in various countries. It wasn't long before the vampires decided to fight back against the hunters and the remaining bloodlines. By the time Light had turned sixteen, the hunters and vampires were already in a state of war, with heavy casualties on both sides.

For even within the vampiric community there was a hierarchy of power. The fledglings were at the bottom of the chain, newly turned vampires a century and younger, and the only ones that turned to dust upon their final death. The vampire aristocrats had two centuries of life and the ability to walk in daylight for short amounts of time. Vampires with three centuries and higher had the ability to withstand sunlight for all hours, refrain from fresh blood for a month at the most and even had small traces of power. The remains, for there were remains, were to be destroyed by fire.

The vampire princes were those of hunter origin, regardless of age, and each and every one had a power and were difficult to kill. An average prince took two hunters to bring it down, and even then the remains were to be destroyed in the very real possibility the vampire was to arise. The older the vampire, the more difficult the kill.

…


	3. Chapter 1- Light POV

Chapter 1: Light POV

Breath came out in a short easy motion. Limbs propelling him easily after his target. He loved the adrenalin rush that came with the hunt, the thrill it brought him when he succeeded in ridding the world of another parasitic leech.

The vampire ahead threw a metal trash can into the alley behind him in an attempt to hinder his pursuers' advancement, trash littering the already filthy ground. Light merely jumped over it without breaking his stride. This was not his first hunt, and it sure as hell wouldn't be his last.

The years had both blessed Light with not only the skills every hunter needed to survive, but with looks and intelligence also. Honey eyes glared through golden strands of hair as he began to purposely gain ground against his target. Clearly a fledgling, a human caught in the cross-fire of the bloody year long war. It didn't matter anymore. He was once a human, he was now a monster that had to be put down before his fangs were stained with the blood of his seventh victim.

A cold drop fell from the sky, splashing Light's cheek, the only warning he received before the sky opened up and allowed a torrential downpour to drench him and his target. Cursing his luck Light pulled out a stake with practiced movements and withdrew a cross with the same action. Long had he tried to convince his father to allow him to carry a gun with wooden bullets and grenades filled with holy water, but his father was against the notion for the simple issue of getting caught with such weapons. Not that Light believed that a wooden stake was any better. He was well aware as to how easily a stake could be used to kill not only vampires, but humans also. Even though it was only a small number, it was a number none the less. And humans were known to be caught between sides.

A projectile flew at his face, cutting his cheek and instantly causing blood to bead through the wound. Coming to a stop Light hissed angrily as he swiped his blood away with the back of his cross baring hand. The vampire came to a standstill, eyeing Light hungrily as the dried blood from his last meal mixed with the rain.

"That wasn't very nice," Light muttered to himself as he watched the now still vampire in favour of ignoring the sting of a new cut. "Come on, I have school in the morning." It wasn't a lie, despite Light already having memorised everything he would ever need to know; and then some.

The vampire flashed his fangs in a snarl, water both flying in an arc from his swinging fist and splashing up from one of the many dirty puddles, as the fledgling threw himself towards Light. It could have been out of desperation, or simply because the sight of the blood had driven him into a feeding frenzy, but even as Light dropped into a defensive position and brought his weapons to act as a shield, the vampire didn't even falter in his wild attack.

Angling his stake and leaning towards the vampire, Light was faced with an unappealing kill and burning disappointment. '_What is this? I went through all of this for that_?!' Light watched as the ash that was once a vampire, mingled with the murky water even as fresh rain washed away even that.

It was just so…pathetic…anticlimactic. "How dare he?" Light raged silently as he re-hid his weapons. Here he had been hoping for a fight, for one that would at least give him a few bruises, instead, he was given almost what seemed like a suicide kill and one he didn't even want to add to his final kill total. And damnit, he had a number he wanted to reach before he died! Every hunter, be they of the original bloodlines or of circumstance, was aware of the record kill total, and every hunter that set their sights upon surpassing it were sadly disappointed.

The gleaming number, 400, kills to a single hunter's name. Only one person had ever come close to reaching it within the current century, but she had been torn to shreds when trying to take out a nest of old-ones by herself. She only had two hundred kills until she reached the set number, it took two hundred days to find all of her remains. Though it wasn't clear how, every hunter was keyed into a machine that was capable of reading the displaced energies of a slain vampire and automatically added the number to the hunter responsible. Every house had one that was connected to the mainframe, it was to prevent people from lying about their kill total in the attempt to reach Hunter status. Read the capital 'H', set by the original hunter bloodline. A fledgling counted as a single kill, an old-one five and a prince was worth ten. If there were more princes around Light could have made it his life's mission to kill as many as possible to quickly achieve not only the 400 kill total, but be the first hunter with ten prince kills to his name at the least. Princes were rare and in between and not every hunter came across one, those that did only ever had a shared kill with other hunters in on it. Nobody had managed to bring down a prince by themselves, they were the most feared of the vampires. And Light wanted to be the first to not only kill one by himself, but to set a kill total others would strive to achieve.

Light ran a hand through his dripping hair and began his weary trip home. The rain and cold not even bothering him, for he was trained to ignore such discomforts. Stuffing his hands into his pockets and lowering his head to keep the water from his eyes, Light didn't even see the sudden appearance and disappearance of a starch white sweater.

…


	4. Chapter 2- L POV

**Thank you all who have followed and favourite this fanfic.**

Chapter 2: L POV

Knees brought to rest beneath his chin, and thumb worrying his bottom lip. This was bad, this was problematic. The hunters were becoming more and more brazen with their attacks and the vampires were reacting out of the same desperate need to win. L had seen quite a few wars in his life-time, but none as bad as the one between the hunters and the vampires. And now there was the problem of BB. Beyond Birthday. The psychopathic vampire that was once L's successor, and now left a bloody trail in his wake. BB had a habit of gaining vampire blood from attacked vampires, and turning his human victims instead of killing them, and that allowed young fledglings to infiltrate hospitals where the casualty rate rose. For how can the newly turned know what had happened to them? But that wasn't the sole reason why L was hunting his old progeny. Beyond had developed the taste for vampire blood. He and his select chosen linage had become vampires that hunted other vampires, the tell-tale sign of the new bloodline, crimson red eyes.

L had been actively hunting BB across the world, and now he discovered that BB was already settled within a new city. His victims already in the teens. And to make matters slightly worse, was the death of L's informant. He was well aware that the fledgling wouldn't last long in the world, already having killed people after awakening, but L had hoped to be back to gain information from the young vampire before he met his final end.

That was before the hunter had killed the fledging. Now L could only sit back and try to predict BB's next move. That damn hunter couldn't have even hesitated for a moment? Not a single moment to get information about the fledgling's creator? Clearly not, the hunters didn't care much about that kind of thing.

L had watched as the young hunter of seventeen, killed the fledging without so much as breaking a sweat. He had seen the disappointment within those intelligent golden eyes and had heard the angry muttered words. L could have disposed of the threat, the hunter hadn't even paid any attention to him as he jumped across the alley, but L wasn't that kind of vampire. He had a target already lined up, and L was never one to leave a job unfinished.

"Wateri, some strawberry cake if you will." L's monotone voice filled the dark room even as he scanned the internet for news of new victims. Missing persons and discovered remains greeted L as he sped-read through the cases for any in relation to BB. Sure there were plenty of kills made by other vampires, the challenge was separating those kills from the whole and categorising them.

In a city such as this, there was likely 400 vampires at any given time, and of those 400 each had their own territories and killing style. Then there were the accidental deaths caused by hunters mistaking human bystanders as vampires. Though those were few and in-between and were always easy to tell, the stake through the heart a dead giveaway.

As L pondered the subject of hunters, he absently ate his newly placed cake; testament to Wateri's ability of moving unseen when he wished. The golden hunter from earlier that night had seemed in his element, not once did he look afraid about what he was confronting, and L couldn't help but wonder if the young hunter was born and bred to be as such, or if he was a victim of circumstance. L's curiosity had been raised and he couldn't help but wonder if he and the young hunter would ever meet face-to-face without the hatred of race and background between them. To face each other as equals. BB came first though, L had to bring down his ex-successor before the city fell to the wraith of new fledglings.

…


	5. Chapter 3- Light POV

**So I was looking at chapter 2 and thinking to myself 'self, this is utterly abysmal, how dare you publish a chapter with under 700 words?' And so I went through every other chapter re-writing in an attempt to not allow such a travesty to re-occur...so I grant a 3k chapter as an offering. :) Again thank you all who have Favorited/followed.**

***Just cleaning up this chapter.**

Chapter 3: Light POV

"It almost seems as though the city is falling to ruins. People are disappearing every night and every day new bodies are being discovered. It's though the police aren't even doing anything."

"I heard that those found had their throats torn out, you don't think…"

Light turned his attention from the speaker and glared out of the classroom window. What he would give to be in a nest right now, vampires cowering in fear, slowly but surely meeting the coveted kill total. He had returned late the night before, drenched and angry. Not only had he run the risk of catching a cold, he hadn't been able to gain a single decent kill. It was frustrating considering how close he was to surpassing the kill total of his family combined. Sayu had managed to snag a quaint twelve, his mother twenty-five and his father rested on forty-five. Eighty-two kills to the family name and Light's own total rested on eighty. He was adamant that the kill that previous night wouldn't count, it not only was too easy, and it was an embarrassment. No, Light would rather stay on eighty kills then add that one to it. Even if it would have already been registered within the 'all-knowing' machine.

Lulled into a meditative state by the endless drone from the teacher, Light was slow to realize that the class had turned their attention to him. Refusing to look as though he had been caught unaware; despite that being the case, Light glanced at the teacher who was wearing a concerned expression.

"Is something wrong Yagami?" Light shook his head the moment the words left the teachers mouth. "Well then, as I was saying, you're apparently being signed out for the rest of the day." The teacher extended his hand with the white-slip and Light hurried to leave.

He never was contacted this early whilst at school. And on the rare occasion should it happen, meant that there was a hunt in progress and his help was needed. He wanted a nest and it seemed as though the hunter god answered. Within minutes of leaving the classroom Light was seated in his father's car with the rest of his family and a car of family friends following behind. This many hands showed that the nest was a dangerous one, and that nobody was willing to take chances.

"Here dear, take these." His mother handed over three stakes and two silver blades; blades which were kept out of sight unless hunting old-ones. Sayu took the weapons offered to her and they both began attaching them to their respective places. Light adding a bottle of lighter-fluid and a lighter to his small arsenal. One never knew when they may need to burn the corpse of an old-one. Sayu even grabbed a water bottle of holy water, not that Light didn't use it, just that he preferred to ensure that the vampires were killed and not just badly burnt.

"How big is the nest?" Light asked even as his father took them further out of civilization. The car behind following closely. "It's clearly big enough to be too dangerous for the four of us."

"Reports put the number at twenty-five fledglings, all suffering from the blood-lust. There have been no confirmed reports of old-ones within the vicinity." Soichiro answered as he stopped the car 800m away from any houses. Vampires had good hearing, and the sound of the cars would put them on alert. Just because they couldn't go out during the day didn't mean that they couldn't be awake during it.

The car behind them came to a stop and the people within began to file out. Light scanned the fellow hunters, not knowing any of them, but being the kind of person he was, Light was all smiles and proved why he was the 'perfect' son. Matsuda was apparently from one of the original twelve bloodlines, but his strand had been diluted over the centuries, he also worked in the NPA and had met Soichiro during a solo hunt some time back. Light was still coming to terms with the fact that Matsuda had managed to survive long enough to meet up with the pure blood family. Mikami was an attorney who hunted in his spare time, and Light had to admit that he looked good whilst in his element. Strong features, eyes that showed some intelligence hidden behind glasses and styled black hair. He had to have come straight from work, because he was dressed in an expensive looking tailored suit complete with a tie. Though Light couldn't judge his fellow hunter's clothing choice, he had, after all, just come from school and was wearing the uniform which consisted of a cheap light brown imitation of Mikami's own.

"So is there a plan?" He asked, not really caring for an answer but doing so out of curtsey, dragging his eyes away from his fellow hunter. Older men and black hair, his downfall.

"In and out, with no funny business. If you get in trouble, ask for help, don't let them sneak up on you. I think that we should be going in pairs." Soichiro looked at Sayu, "Sayu, you and your mother are a team, Matsuda and I, Light and Mikami. Is everyone clear?" Heads were nodded in understanding. "Let's go then, remember, one loud noise and the whole plan changes." With that we began to separate into the smaller teams, everyone on edge and glancing around for signs of an old-one.

The house was surrounded by fairly thick bush land, so as well as avoiding low hanging branches we had to ensure that we didn't step on a fallen branch. That would alert any old-ones to our presence and that could get ugly. Minutes in and they soon lost sight of the other teams, the only thing Light could hear was the sound of breathing, both his and Mikami's. Shifting his grip on the stake Light glanced over his shoulder, ensuring that Mikami was keeping up, startled to find him closer than expected. With a slight nod Light returned to making his way through the bush land, the wooden house rising out of the surrounding bush land.

_'That's good, if the need arises we can burn the house down with the leeches inside it_.' It was loud and messy, but it got the job done whilst in a pinch. _'And they left the windows unbarred, how kind of them.' _Light couldn't believe how ignorant the fledglings were. Not only were they grouped together, they were living in a wooden house with unbarred windows and gas instead of electricity.

It seemed as though he and Mikami were approaching from the east, a backdoor within sight. From there it was easy to gain access within the house, barely making a sound as the door glided open on well-oiled hinges. Light cast a quick scouting glance around the immediate area; still basking in the protection of the sun, signs of life evident in the cluttered room. There were no vampires Light could see, that didn't mean that they weren't there.

Clasping the silver stake in a tighter grasp Light entered the house with Mikami hot on his heels. It was evident that they were the first team to make entry, and Light was going to ensure the others had some sort of insurance upon their entry. That involved the smashing of every window to allow sunlight to stream through unfiltered. Admittedly, that would also alert the vampires to their presence, so instead of smashing the windows; as much as Light wanted to, he was content with simply removing any curtains. Mikami had the common sense to follow and keep an eye out for movement as Light silently allowed sunlight to penetrate the darkness, exposing more rooms and clutter. There was no doubt that there was a nest residing here. The lack of immediate attacks meant that they were either upstairs or hiding in some other room. Unless they were old-ones or princes.

Moving towards the final up-opened window within the room a creaking floorboard was the only warning he was given before a vampire fell upon him. "Shit," Light spun in an attempt to dislodge the vampire clinging to his shirt, tearing seams in the process, Mikami was nowhere in sight. Fingers clawed at his throat accompanied with angry hisses as the vampire succumbed to blood-lust, evidence showing that the fledgling had no sire to teach her. Rocking back Light stamped his foot down harshly upon that of his attacker's whilst spinning to face the blood-crazed woman.

Her eyes gleamed and fangs were protruding from her mouth, fingers hooked in a clawing motion. Light raised the silver stake, she may have been a fledgling but silver worked just as well on them as it did on old-ones. He took a step towards the vampire, intending on herding her into the patches of sunlight throughout the room when he felt his feet swept out from under him. He hit the floor with a heavy smack and felt as the stake dislodged from his grasp.

"Stupid hunter, shouldn't you know better?" A foot stamped down upon his back, pinning him to the floor as he struggled to catch a glimpse of his assailant whilst keeping the girl in his sight and wriggling free one of the wooden stakes hidden under his shirt. "Now you've gone and lost your weapon, why can't you leave us alone? We don't kill all that many people, and the ones we do don't make a dent in the population."

Light grasped the stake; wooden, and without answering the question stabbed it through the vampire's foot he had left on the floor. An angry pain filled shout followed as blood began to gush through the wound and Light used the momentary distraction to throw the vampire off of him and launched to his feet. His attacker was male, and by the angry shouts coming from his mouth, he was an old-one. Arms wrapped around his shoulders and Light found himself being yanked backwards towards the awaiting fangs of the female he had momentarily forgotten. Cussing himself on the inside Light elbowed the vampire in the stomach before impulsively grabbing her arms and jumped into the sunlight, dragging his struggling victim with him.

High pitched screams of pain filled the house even as the smell of cooking flesh wafted through the air. The arms became frantic as the vampire tried to save herself from burning alive, skin blistering and bursting as the sun cooked the vampire as she screamed and struggled for freedom. Flames began to lick at Light's hands and he let go, the vampire was too far gone to save herself even if she tried. She was engulfed by the hungry flames as they burnt away tissue and muscle, the remains turning to dust, screams never ending until vocal cords burnt away to ash. The sickly smell of burnt flesh now dominated the air and Light began to breathe through his mouth to prevent himself from hurling. No matter how many times he had burnt a leech, he could never get immune to the smell.

Screams filled the air, some of anger and some of pain, signalling the arrival of the other teams. Light spun and in a fluid movement reclaimed his silver stake and faced the old-one still in the room. His foot had already healed, the only sign of damage, the fresh blood and broken stake. "You bastard," He snarled, eyes and fangs flashing. "I was planning on killing you quickly, but now I think maybe not." The vampire lunged before Light could reply, and Light swiftly went to block his vitals with his arms and his stake baring hand. The attack didn't come from the front, it came from the side, the old-one using his speed to his advantage.

Pain was felt briefly as the old-one's fist made contact with Light's stomach, and as he went to protect himself the world tilted and Light's head became friendly with a corner. Pain flashed throughout his skull and a wet trickle of blood streamed down his face. God, _it hurt. _Damn vampire was either trying to kill him with the attack or daze him. The leech succeeded in dazing him. Lights danced across his vision as a dull throbbing filled his head in time with his pulse, his lips sticky in his own blood. Light was a hunter though, he was raised to fight through the pain, and that was why he was still grasping the stake close to him.

"Mm, your blood is that of the twelve, it smells so sweet." Breath blew against the back of Light's neck as the vampire lent down towards Light's unprotected neck. "I'll enjoy draining it from you painfully." Lips made contact with Light's skin and he reacted instinctively. There was no way he was allowing a leech to sink its fangs into him.

Light snapped his head back, hitting the vampire head-on with a crack, adding to the pain already within his head. Light spun away from the corner to face the slightly dazed vampire. This time though Light dropped to the floor and lashed out with his foot in a kick aimed for the vampire's knee, using his hands as balancers. Contact was made and the vampire went down with a surprised huff. Light didn't pause, readjusting the stake and throwing himself bodily upon the old-one so he was straddling its waist with the stake poised above the heart as the vampire came to terms with the rapid change in events.

"Looks like its five-for-one for me," Light breathed lightly, bringing the stake down in a lightning fast movement. It slid through with minimal difficulty, the vampire screaming in agony for every inch it went, though those screams soon turned into blood filled laughter. It rose in pitch and Light tensed in as the laughter unsettled him. "What the hell are you laughing at? You're an inch away from death," and indeed the vampire was, Light knew when to stop should he need to get information from a parasite.

"You fool, you have no idea about what's going on. All these vampires are coming from the same source. There's a prince here and I hope I could witness as he bleeds you dry!" The vampire laughed crazily as he impaled himself upon the remainder of the stake, decaying rapidly though not permanently dead until destroyed by fire.

Light stood from the corpse, pulling free his stake in case there were more old-ones. The sound of screams and shattering objects could still be heard throughout the house, and even through his blood had slowed to a drizzle down his face and he swayed with slight nausea due to the head injury. Dousing the remains and setting light to a torn piece of fabric, Light hurried to find the other hunters as the corpse of the old-one went up in flames.

The room showed obvious signs of a fight, vases lay scattered across tile, tables and chairs were overturned and blood was streaked upon the walls. Three vampires were facing Soichiro and a lightly bleeding Matsuda, all of whom were focused upon inflicting hits to their targets, each ignoring Light's presence.

_'Now I could leave them be, they don't seem to need my help.' _But Light was after that kill total, and regardless of if they could handle the situation he smashed out a window, cutting his hands upon slivers of glass, and instantly burning the three vampires to crispy human shaped bonfires. They had to have been young for such instantaneous combustion's, that didn't help with the rank smell of burnt flesh and hair.

"Light what are you doing here? Where's Mikami?" Soichiro asked in a stern tone, ignoring the fact that he had just been given aid and Matsuda was standing behind him swaying slightly.

_'Mikami? Right, that moron left me the moment we set foot in the house.' _Light shrugged in response to the question. "Don't know, perhaps he was dragged off," '_He had better have been, or else he knowingly left me up against two vampires._' Not that it irritated him too much, kill total, and all. It was simply a matter of principal, you don't wander off on your own in a vampire nest if you went in with a team. What was truly on the forefront of Light's mind was the possibility of Mikami getting in more kills then him. "How many leeches are left?" Light asked, chalking up the five dead and the twenty remaining.

Soichiro dragged his hand over his face whilst Matsuda took the time to tend to some of his wounds. "Seventeen, though don't rule out the possibility of there being more, these three were freshly turned. Who knows how many more are in here in the same situation." A crash sounded from upstairs coupled with even more yelling.

"So you mean to say, that we sent mum and Sayu, alone, upstairs with seventeen angry parasites?" Simultaneously our heads shot to the staircase that led to the second floor. "This is bad," He muttered turning on his heel and sprinting up the wooden stairs, ignoring the calls from Matsuda and his father and the repetitive pounding in his skull.

Making it to the top of the stairs the floor was a disaster zone. Tables, chairs, vases, and other household objects lay smashed upon the floors or overturned. Blood streaked surfaces, but if it was human or vampire he couldn't tell. Gripping the stake harder and swallowing back a wave of nausea Light scanned for any signs of life_. 'Now is a bad time to be wishing for a gun filled with wooden bullets_.' He slowed his breathing and followed the sounds of heavy footsteps, though the yells soon turned into screams of pain. Light knew that those screams belonged to Sayu and his mother. _'Seventeen vampires, five stakes, one me.' _The odds weren't in his favour, but he sure as hell wasn't going to allow his family to become snacks for the parasites. There were windows lining the walls and it seemed as though they were the only advantage he was going to be presented with.

_'Or I can get mum and Sayu off this floor and downstairs into the sunlight, the vampires will be trapped up here and I think I saw a gas-line, we can always burn the house down and take the vampires out that way.'_ Light smashed a window, this time not even flinching against the small cuts that formed, and made his way towards the location of the fight. Footsteps followed behind him and Light didn't need to turn to know that Matsuda and his father had come upstairs.

The sound of repetitive banging filled the room, sounded as though someone had closed a door, not that it would do much other than delay the vampires. Seemed as though those trapped were aware of the fact and the sound of a shattering window followed by two soft thumps from outside signalled that they had jumped from the second floor. The loud cracking of wood and hisses of pain alerted us to the certain knowledge that the vampires were upstairs and the angry words allowed us to know that both the female hunters were gone.

Throwing out an arm to stop Matsuda and his father from continuing towards the angry muttering, Light continued opening windows and slowly made his way downstairs with his father and Matsuda following behind just as silently. They reached the ground floor and made an immediate break for the open door; every step causing Light's head to throb painfully.

Once outside Matsuda and his father went around to check on the females whilst Light retraced his earlier footsteps and found the gas-line. Taking his lighter out of his pocket with the remains of the lighter-fluid and wearing a sinister smirk, he waited until his family and Matsuda were out of the blast range; surprised to see a blood-stained Mikami with the small group. He dropped a torn piece of curtain fabric into the bottle, much like a Molotov-cocktail, and lit the end before throwing it into the ticking-time-bomb that was the house.

…

**Just so we are clear. I have no clue as to how the whole 'gas is a dangerous thing when combined with fire' works. Like if the whole house needs to be full of it or anything like that. I'm no pyromaniac. So lets just say that 'cos I wanted the house to go 'boom' then the house went 'boom', better get used to that logic 'cos there are going to be a few; maybe one more, scenes involving explosives.**


	6. Chapter 4- L POV

**Thank you all those who have favorited/followed and reviewed, and Happy New Year!**

Chapter 4: L POV

L wasn't sure if he should feel grateful or outraged. An entire nest wiped out in a single afternoon by hunters. By the time L had arrived at the site smoldering ruins greeted him. There were no remains. Kicking aside a large piece of rubble L's lips curled up into a snarl. This nest, though not one of his own, was full of fledglings that could have assisted him in hunting down BB. And it had gone up, literally, in flames. Though it also meant that he himself wouldn't have to concern himself with the clean-up.

He left the site, intent on drowning his mixed feelings in large quantities of blood or liquor. He found himself in one of the shadier bars, the kind that had back-hand dealings going on as well as the service of alcohol to minors. It was in this shady bar L caught sight of the golden haired teenage hunter for the second time, and it looked like he wasn't alone.

L sat himself down at the bar counter, eyeing the pair even as he ordered a drink. It seemed that the golden hunter had already drunk more than enough to warrant a hangover the following morning, his older companion right there with him. They both seemed to be celebrating a job well done, and L knew for certain that it had been 'well done'. Their clothing was spotted with blood L could smell from where he sat, tiny cuts over their hands and one slightly larger one on the youngest head, the smell and sight of blood causing L's stomach to grumble in hunger. Two intoxicated hunters in a part of the city where people vanished without a trace, what more could the vampire prince ask for? It wasn't self-preservation that edged him on, no, it was the beginning of jealousy towards the golden hunter's dark haired male companion.

Attention caught briefly by the news announcement of the explosion and the cause; accident, and L knew that the two hunters had men on the inside. Which meant that should he choose to infiltrate the hunters circle, he could use the police force as a cover. Meet the hunters within the force and finally be able to go along on the hunts that'll bring him to fledglings he could question. And the decision had nothing to do with the young hunter who was currently kissing his companion without inhibition. Hand clenching down around the glass, L through it down and requested an immediate follow-up even as the pair rose from their seats and quickly left the establishment. Clearly they only had one thing on their mind at the moment.

He angrily threw down the second glass, gesturing for a top-up even as his phone sounded. There were only four people with his number, each and every one of them considered family. Scanning the message L sighed as he downed his final drink and threw notes onto the bench. Leaving the establishment; with a keen eye searching for the golden hunter and his dark-haired companion, L stepped into the idling car without seeing a trace of either.

"I take it that you were once again unsuccessful?" Watari asked from the driver seat as he navigated through the downtown streets. "I heard that the house had been filled with fledglings with only a single old-one there to keep them in line. The hunters killed every one of them, such a waste."

Absently L brought his thumb to trace lightly over his lower lip. "It was a necessary sacrifice, if the hunters hadn't gotten there first I would have been the one to eliminate them." Removing his finger L delicately picked up a spoon in a pincer-like grip. "BB is escalating his turns. It's a shame we can't find out where he is getting the vampire blood from. Though, I suppose we should be thankful that so far no other cannibalistic vampires have cropped up since B's conversion. That would simply cause more problems for us."

"Perhaps you should consider contacting your successors, if this continues you'll need all the extra hands. With the war currently escalating we not only have to deal with B and his fledglings, but the hunters also." Watari pointed out as he brought the car to a stop, a valet rushing to take over the car. Following Watari's example, L left the car to the valet and followed Watari into the overly expensive hotel. All conversation on hold until they reached the privacy of the hotel room.

"I have thought about the hunter issue and have reached the conclusion that in order to catch a fledgling before it is killed, I must be present. Therefore, I will be joining the police under the guise of a detective in order to get close enough to those involved in the hunter circles, then, if all goes well, I will follow them on their next hunt and can question any fledglings we come across." Dropping down upon a couch L brought his legs up to curl into his familiar crouching position. "Some cake, if you will Watari."

"As you wish sir." Watari silently left the room leaving L to his thoughts of BB and a certain young hunter. The plan to infiltrate would go into effect the following day, and from there all he had to do was compel his way into the inner circle of hunters. L's gift, though not always a reliable one, was unique to himself. The ability to control others actions was not something to be taken lightly. What he needed was to have an unobstructed view of the persons' eyes and they would fall under his command, and that was how he planned on worming his way into the police force and perhaps even into a certain golden hunters life.

Watari returned with a large slice of cake and swiftly took his leave, leaving L to his swirling thoughts. _'BB is a prince, which means he will have not only vampire followers but humans also. His gift will be most helpful to him in achieving what he wants, I'll need to find out who his co-conspirers are.'_ B's gift was the ability to take away someone's free-will, though it could be compared to L's own gift, B's gift turned the one it had been used upon into an obsessive slave for all intents and purposes. He would have someone at his beck-and-call for however long he wanted, and that person would do whatever it took to please their 'master'.

Taking a bite of the cake L pondered his other mission, infiltrating the hunter circle. Obviously he had every intention of walking to the nearest police station and informing them that he was a detective sent out to investigate the murders, but how to find the hunters without asking every individual person he crossed? He could always return to the bar and try to track the hunter's scents and ask them both in person, maybe even put a stop to whatever was growing between the two of them.

The young hunters' face flashed before L's eyes and he let out a low growl as his canines grew. At that moment L wasn't sure if he wanted the hunter as a friend or a meal. His blood, though mostly cleaned up, had been potent enough to remain in the back of L's mind. It was clear that the hunter was close to closing 100 kills, the closer a hunter got to the 400 kill mark the sweeter and more tempting their blood became. It was a double edged sword, the hunter gained Hunter status and all the perks that came with it, but it also came with the downside, the strong scent of the blood which called to any and every vampire the Hunter crossed. L knew that he wasn't the only vampire in the city, he'd be completely ignorant to believe that, so he knew that plenty would come after the young hunter. What L didn't know, was if he would join the hunting party or save the hunter from his fate.

L returned to his cake and put all thoughts from his mind as he savored the taste, trying not to picture what it would be like to sink his teeth into the youthful neck.

…


	7. Chapter 5- Light POV

**I'd like to thank High on the Rainbow for the assistance given. Hopefully things in the 'pairings' department will be clearer now. As always thank you all those who have reviewed/followed and favourited.**

Chapter 5: Light POV

He screwed up. Massively screwed up. Not only was his head pounding with a hangover that currently rivalled all others, his lower back ached enough to warn him not to even attempt to get to his feet. He screwed up. Here he was nursing a hangover and an aching lower region in bed. A bed that had another occupant other than himself. Did he mention he screwed up? Light wasn't one to go out with the intention of getting plastered, then again he wasn't usually one to go out and have a one-night-stand with someone who was basically a complete stranger. It wasn't his style, it wasn't him. So why was he in bed, very naked, with an equally as naked Mikami? Right, 'cos he screwed up.

Holding back a groan Light began to silently slide out of the bed in an attempt to reach freedom without an awkward encounter with his bed buddy. His stealthy silence lasted until he went to stand, then burning pain lanced up and down his spin causing him to groan out loud and Mikami to shift slightly in his sleep. Holding his breath and biting down on his lip to keep silent, Light rapidly began regathering his discarded clothing and dressed record fast as he quickly fled the bedroom and eventually the whole house limping all the way. On the plus-side, at least his wounds had healed due to the slightly elevated healing that came with being a pure blood member of the twelve.

One block away he hailed a taxi and gave directions to his home, cursing silently in pain and embarrassment the whole ride. _'How could I have been so careless? Yes I thought he looked attractive, but why did I have to not only go and get wasted with him but also sleep with him? What was I thinking?! I let him screw me! I wonder if it's at all possible for Mikami to forget it was me. Not likely.'_ His father was going to kill him. Not because Light was bi-sexual, everyone was aware of that, but because he was a minor who not only went out and got drunk, but did so with an older man who he later fell into bed with and had no clue as to his background. _'Oh god, I hope that even though I was intoxicated I remembered to have him use protection.' _The last thing he needed was to discover his one-night-stand had lasting repercussions that resulted in the denial of the 400 kill total.

The taxi arrived at its destination and Light payed the fare; his face smoothed over in an expressionless mask, as he headed into the metaphorical lion's den. Someone was bound to ask questions, but Light knew that he was skilled enough in the art of manipulation to keep those questions from reaching the truth of last nights' events. Opening the front door and hesitating as pain raced up and down his spine, Light entered into the silent house.

_'Or, not so silent…' _The sound of voices could be heard from the lounge room. Silently debating whether or not he should walk in an greet the guest and his family, or go straight upstairs to a scalding shower and medicine cabinet, his decision was made as pain raced up his spin again. _'Right, shower, painkillers and then meet and greet.'_ Light headed straight upstairs towards the unoccupied bathroom and firmly locked the door behind him.

A quick shower, a change of clothing and a dry swallowed set of pills later, found Light heading back downstairs to where his father and their guest were still talking. Conversation abruptly cut off as the guest caught sight of him as Light entered the room. Light came to a halt as he inspected the man standing before him.

Wild black hair, pale skin, dark circles under even darker eyes, bad posture as he sat with his knees under his chin, ill-fitting jeans and a bleach white sweater. Overall a very intriguing specimen. Though the aura of power he was giving off was enough to raise Light's suspicions. It wasn't so much a hunter vibe, more like that of a dangerous animal kept caged in a zoo. Simply waiting for the right moment to pounce. The fact that the man's dark eyes seemed to try and suck him in, kept Light from making eye contact, opting instead to look over the mans' shoulder.

"Sorry if I was interrupting father, I simply came to wish you good morning and enquire as to where Sayu and mother are." Tacking the last bit on to advert suspicion. That and he finally noticed that neither female was currently within the house. _'I hope they didn't go on a hunt without me.' _That simply would not do.

Soichiro didn't hesitate to answer. "Your mother and sister are out collecting the household tally." He said in regards of the topic before gesturing to the man sitting on the couch. "Light this is Ryuuzaki, he's a detective that's recently transferred from another district and happens to be another hunter. He apparently heard of our family and decided to seek us out." It was said as though it was a common occurrence for their family; it was anything but common. Matsuda stumbling across the family of four had been pure luck on his part and two days of tracking down on Soichiro's, and Mikami was only with them because of a legal case he worked on involving a hunter who staked a human by mistake. Even though the bloodlines were infamous in vampire circles and famous in hunter circles, nobody ever went out of their way to track them down before. Light analysed this knowledge silently even as 'Ryuuzaki' added his two cents.

"You know, the whole 'safety in numbers' thing." Ryuuzaki drawled in a monotone voice, his eyes never leaving Light's face.

Light flicked his eyes to his father in question. "Just Ryuuzaki?" He asked suspicion lacing his tone. "What, no last name? Just an alias?" Soichiro made no move to comment on the poised questions, instead opting to remain silent.

Ryuuzaki simply gave a small knowing smile before he answered. "And here I thought that a single name was more than enough to gain your trust, after all, I could have sworn that I saw you last night downtown with a male friend. You and he both looked quite occupied when you left, and I'm assuming that the hangover you're bound to have isn't the only pain you're feeling this morning."

Heat filled Light's face as he adverted his eyes even as his father made a noise of slight disgust. "You did what?!" His father rounded on him. "Is what Ryuuzaki just claimed true? You not only went out and got yourself drunk but went home with a stranger? Light, I thought you knew better!"

"He wasn't just some complete stranger," Light muttered in embarrassment. "It was Mikami." He added, digging his own grave.

"Just Mikami? No last name?" Ryuuzaki mocked even as Light sent him a threatening glare.

"He's name is Mikam-ah," Light trailed off even as more embarrassment filled him. _'I didn't even ask him for his first name!' _As a general rule amongst hunters only a single name was given to make things less complicated, that way no attachments were formed thus making things easier should that person need to be taken out. _'And apparently I was too far gone to ask for Mikami's.' _His father simply shook his head in disappointment and left it at that as the sound of Sayu and his mother entering the house put an end to any more comments.

Light couldn't help but glare at Ryuuzaki even as he smirked back at him, thumb tracing his lower lip and sleep deprived eyes never leaving Light's face. _'Though if he is a hunter despite all his quirks that means that he has to be fairly fit, and he is older than me. What if…?!' _Light refused to even finish the thought, though it echoed tauntingly within his mind anyway. _'What if he's killed more than me? He could be closer to the kill total then what I currently am.'_

…


	8. Chapter 6- L POV

**Alas, I'm a week behind. Oh well, that'll happen occasionally. Thank you all those have have reviewed/followed/favourited.**

Chapter 6: L POV

It wasn't as though L had planned for things to work out this way, how was he to know that the hunter/Deputy Director Soichiro Yagami would turn out to be the father of the golden hunter; L now knew as 'Light', and that said hunter would turn up when L was working his way into the hunter circle? He also couldn't help but point out the events of the previous night, though he did feel slight satisfaction at watching the young hunter thrown out of his comfort-zone. Though it intrigued L that the young hunter seemed to view him with suspicion and refused to look into L's eyes. _'It's almost as though he knows that by looking into my eyes he'll be put under my influence like the rest of the hunters and police I've come across.' _That could turn out to be problematic in the future, but L chose to leave the issue alone for then.

The female huntresses of the house entered the room with sealed envelopes L knew contained the family members kill total. The huntresses acknowledged L's presence, but didn't delve too far into his presence. It was clear that; aside from Light, the others were willing to accept him on Soichiro's word alone. After discovering about the 'all-knowing' machine that kept track of the kills made by a hunter L had wanted to find out more about the technology. Everywhere he looked for information he found nothing about the machine, eventually he managed to discover that it was a spell created by a witch at the same time the original twelve hunter families had come into existence. The spell; once completed, was to infuse the hunter with the strength and abilities of those he; or she, hunted, thus giving them the title of Hunter. And it appeared as though Light was going to be this decades' closest contender for the title.

Mrs Yagami silently handed over the envelopes to her husband and son before leaving the room to what L suspected was the kitchen. The conversation had yet to start back up and L could feel Light's glare on the back of his head. That and the four heartbeats filling the room reminded L that he hadn't fed in a while, and the worse place to allow his vampiric features to show up would be in the home of hunters.

Getting to his feet L noticed that hunched down he was the same height as Light, if he were to stand erect then he would be inches taller. "It appears that I must now take my leave Mr Yagami, I will be seeing you around. It was a pleasure to meet you Light." L nodded his head in their direction before leaving the house, not giving either of them a second respond. Cutting off his air supply as he passed closer to Light in an attempt to keep the young hunters scent from overwhelming him and causing him to lose control.

Stepping outside into the evening air L allowed his senses to expand to scout out for his meal of the night, releasing and inhaling a deep breath of fresh air; untainted by the alluring scent of one Light Yagami. After that he would try and find more kills linked to BB whilst devouring some of Watari's cooking. Following the scent of a human down an ally L came across his meal.

Where a human would have seen another human, L saw a vessel for the life-force that kept him alive. Within moments he pounced upon the human, sinking his elongated canines into the soft flesh and swallowing mouthful after mouthful of the rich warm liquid. He wasn't even concerned with the smell of sweat and the dirt that caked the man. The struggles grew weak then non-existent as the carrier of food and life ceased to live. Dropping the now empty vessel and licking his lips even as his teeth shrunk back to those of a human length, L left the ally, not once looking back at the body left behind. The blood he had ingested would last him for a month before he would have to go hunting again. Providing nothing caused him to loose blood within the month. Though he couldn't help but wish for a better tasting meal.

Pulling out his phone L made a quick call to Watari to pick him up and promptly entered a bar where young adults frequented. BB had been picking up people from all over the city, but L was slightly hoping that he would get a lead on him whilst lurking in the shadows of this popular joint. Music pounded in his ears, even though it was set on a low volume setting, and the smell of cigarettes and a cocktail of varying perfumes burned his nose.

Sadly L didn't pick anything out that would help him in his hunt, until his eyes drifted over to a table where only two males were seated. One was an unfamiliar face, blonde hair and blue eyed cliché, but the other L recognised as the hunter Light had spent the night with. Mikami. The discussion they were having was hushed but looked very heated, L cocked his head in interest as he watched Mikami argue with the unknown blonde, before losing interest in the trivial argument. It wasn't going to affect him in away and it had nothing to do with BB. Chances were that they were partners and the blonde haired one found out about Mikami's infidelity, and they were having a lovers quarrel.

_'Poor Light, looks like his one-night stand is going to haunt him.' _L thought as he watched the blonde rise angrily to his feet and storm out of the establishment. L could only imagine what would occur should the two cross paths. Mikami waited for a few moments before he himself left the bar, a satisfied look on his face. L raised his thumb to trace his lower lip at the expression Mikami wore, not something one would expect to see when they just had a lovers spat. _'Perhaps they were simply acquaintances and had a debate over a case-file.'_ Lowering his hand and resigning himself to the knowledge that he wasn't going to be hearing about BB, L exited the bar and gladly stepped within the waiting car.

It wasn't until the early hours of the following morning L discovered the deaths of five fledglings and two old-ones, kills L instinctively knew belonged to Light. The three missing vampires and an increase in the missing human population, L was certain belonged to BB.

_'It appears as though I'll have to get in contact with my successors, I'll need their assistance on this after all.' _Though it was without question that he had no intention on allowing his successors come face-to-face with BB, simply to help L track him down. He fished around for his phone before dialing in the programmed number and waited for the line to connect, knowing full well that it was still daytime where his successors were and they were more than likely sleeping. Receiving the mechanical voice informing him to leave a voice-mail L left his message short and to the point. Hopefully the three of them would be on the next flight to Japan. That was if the three of them were still together.

A chime on the laptop informed him that a small number of missing humans had been discovered, dead, and had promptly been ferried to one of the local hospitals. _'I wonder if they are only remains or if they'll rise again.' _It was something he would have to wait for the following day to be answered, it took time for the newly converted to arise from the darkness.

…


	9. Chapter 7- Light POV

**Thank you all those who have followed/favourited and reviewed.**

Chapter 7: Light POV

Light mindlessly took notes as the teacher droned on about whatever topic was being retaught. It was laughable that he was the number one student of Japan without any real challenges. Those within his classes all had one thing on their minds; hormones, and though Light was by no means a virgin, he wasn't dragged down with the rest of them. Thankfully he was fully recovered after his encounter with Mikami two nights previous, although his father had taken the liberty to remind Light not to do such reckless things again. This was after the mysterious 'Ryuuzaki' had abruptly left the house. There was something about the other male that had captured Light's attention. Whether it was the obvious power emanating off of him, of the fact that even though he was clearly using an alias, everyone had come to accept him.

Eventually Light had chosen to go out hunting that night to work off his frustration at both himself and the nosey stranger who just _had_ to point out his mistake. Five fledglings and two old ones, a total of fifteen kills in one night, thus bringing his overall kill total up into the triple-digits. 122. He was now only just 278 kills away from 400. Now he had to really get down to business. No more of this pretend studying for tests he could breeze through, no more wasting time on homework and assignments that required only minutes to complete. From this night onwards Light planned on hunting every night, not returning until the early hours of the morning or until he had at least twenty kills under his belt. The sooner he got to 400, the sooner his hard work would pay off. Light twirled his pen between his fingers as he glanced up at the teacher, still droning on whilst reading from the textbook. He was far from the only one not paying attention, but he was the only one that would be able to recall what had been taught.

So 278 parasites left to kill. That was either going to be 278 fledglings; which would take far too long, or fifty-four old-ones to bring it close, what he really needed was some princes. He would only need twenty-six princes to reach the total. _'And it's not like they hang around just waiting to be killed, hell, you'd have a bigger chance of winning the lottery then stumbling across a single prince, much less twenty-six of them.'_

Hunters always ensured that their own were never converted, and if they were, not for long. It was simply the way things were, no self-respecting hunter would allow themselves to become what they hunted. That isn't to say that it didn't happen from time to time, hell, there was probably over 1000 hunter-turned-vampires running around on every continent. Light knew for a fact that should it come to it, he would kill himself should he turn, and if not by his own hand, then that of his family. They all agreed on that.

Light was brought out of his musings when someone's phone rang piercingly. That caught everyone's attention as they glanced around looking for the source of the noise. His eyes zeroed in on one of the blonde haired girls' up the front of the room. Misa Amane, he thought her name was, as she flushed red in embarrassment and went to silence the device. Even as her hand went to shut it off, another three phones sounded from around the room. The teacher turning to glare at the class, mouth opening no doubt to scold the students, when even his phone sounded. That ring was echoed by two others and soon the whole class room erupted in various ring-tones.

Light pulled his own phone out even as he felt it vibrate against his leg. Sliding the lock screen Light found an emergency bulletin shown upon his touch-screen. It appeared as though it was a city-wide broadcast warning people away from one of the downtown hospitals due to a bloody and violent riot happening within the building. He locked his phone and set it aside, silently fuming. Trust the hunters on the police force to get to the without-a-doubt fledgling vampires first. It just wasn't fair.

The teacher didn't even bother returning to the lesson, there only being under a minute until the end of the school day. Light began to pack away his items even as the bell sounded and the air filled with excited gossiping voices that rose together to form a disjointed harmony only a student could understand.

Rushing outside knowing beyond a doubt that his father would be awaiting him, Light hurried out farewells to those who called them to him and launched himself into the passenger seat of his father's patrol car, more than ready to face whatever the hospital held. He held back a slight shiver of _something_ even as the hairs on the back of his neck raised, he simply brushed the feeling off as he settled into the seat. Sayu would have gone off with his mother, probably to do a supply run to restock their dwindling supplies.

His father took off; no communication necessary, as soon as Light had the seatbelt on and as he father drove towards the hospital Light grabbed a handful of stakes and a bottle of holy water, only then realising that he and his father weren't alone in the patrol car. Turning slightly to his right Lights eyes inadvertently met with those belonging to none other than Ryuuzaki, who was currently sitting on his fathers' window side as Matsuda and Mikami sat in silence beside him.

Swinging back to the front and lightly biting his lip, Light silently cursed every god and demi-god in ten different languages. Of course Mikami just had to be there. Even now he could feel both Mikami's and L's eyes upon his form. _'Tonight will not be a repeat of last time. It was a one-night stand, nothing more.'_ Somehow Light doubted his own words. Him plus alcohol plus an attractive older guy who was more than willing to entertain him, equalled an awkward morning after. It had happened a few times with people from school he considered friends. _'Now that I think about it, I was blatantly lying to myself that morning, I am totally that kind of person._' That being said, Light knew that he bored easily and that was the large factoring issue as to why he had so many of these reoccurrences. What he needed was someone who challenged him and not just someone average that is if he was looking for a long term relationship.

The car came to a stop and the sound of sirens and police scanners filled the air. Doors opened simultaneously and everyone filed out.

Pushing his thoughts aside, he took a deep calming breath and focussed on the goal of the day.

Though it was horribly insensitive of him, Light couldn't help but hope that there were dozens of vampires running loose, even if in order for that number to have been reached meant some innocent humans had been turned. _'Downside is that there won't be any old-ones, plus side, who knows how many younglings are running around clueless, downside more pitiful kills.' _Running his index finger over the edge of a wooden stake Light followed his father as Soichiro gathered the others into a small group in order to start giving the attack plan and the teams. _'Please don't stick me with Mikami or Ryuuzaki.' _It was a futile hope, knowing full well that he would end up with at least one of them, but not both, not even his father was that cruel. So it looked like Light was going to be stuck with the mysterious Ryuuzaki. At least he wouldn't have to deal with the awkwardness that would arise with Mikami, namely the drunken one-night-stand and the morning after. No, he would have to deal with Ryuuzaki's staring eyes and powerful, threatening aura. Light was certain that there was something about Ryuuzaki, good looks aside.

…


	10. Chapter 8 L POV

**An early post this week. Thank you all who have favourited/followed and reviewed.**

Chapter 8: L POV

Soichiro headed the small group of hunters, each one looking to him for their orders. It rubbed L the wrong way to let a human give him orders, but the moment the call had come into the station and the hunters had immediately went to action, L knew that he would have to get used to following the orders given by the humans. His assumption had been correct about the presence of hunters on the police force, what he didn't know was the number, it appeared as though one third of the force was aware of the vampires, even if not all of them were active hunters. Right at that very moment officers Aizawa and Mogi were keeping an eye on the situation to ensure that the hunters weren't disturbed. They had been the ones to send out the emergency bulletin earlier, that had saved L from a dreadfully boring casefile containing spray-cans and a little B&E.

This all flies through L's mind in seconds so he is more than capable of listening to Soichiro separate them into teams. Soichiro and Matsuda; it appeared as though Soichiro was loath to let Matsuda out from under the protective wing of the elder hunter, little surprise that Mikami was sent with them also. That left L and the young hunter prodigy Light.

A thrill of excitement went through L as his eyes travelled over the young hunter, he had wanted a chance to see Light in his element, and here was his chance. Soichiro finished the plan; kill all the vampires and save as many humans as possible, and they began to branch away from one another. It was as L was entering the silent building that he felt eyes on the back of his head, stealthily looking around he spotted a small glare upon Light's face. Clearly Light wasn't happy with his forced partnership with the guy who ratted him out in front of his father just a day ago.

"Is Light ready?" L asked as they walked towards the main doors, the other hunters walking towards the rear to insure nobody tried to get in or escape from that side. Whilst L knew that Light was currently carrying wooden stakes; not that big of a threat to L, the holy water he had added would cause some problems should any of it encounter L's skin. Just because he was a prince didn't mean that he was exempt from holy water, it and silver being the only two things he had in common with the other vampire social classes.

Light glanced over at him, irritation written across his face. "More prepared then you appear to be. Not only are you still shoeless and wearing the same thing as the last time I saw you, but you didn't even grab a single weapon. I don't know how you used to hunt back from where-ever you came from, but here we use stakes." He threw one across and L instinctively dodged out of the projectiles way. Cursing silently when he remembered that it was a _wooden_ stake and not a silver one and most likely raised Light's suspicions against him again.

"I would appreciate it if Light didn't throw sharp objects around," L bent to pick up the stake and swiftly threw it back to Light who caught it with barely a change in his calculating expression. "I'll use a weapon when I need to." And by that it meant if he couldn't convince the newly changed fledglings to see things his way. L hoped to save some of the young ones, he couldn't stand by and watch them all get killed, and if it came to it though he wouldn't hesitate with the killing blow.

They shouldered open the doors and walked into the eerily quiet waiting room. Objects lay discarded across the floor and under the strong smell of disinfectant and disease L could smell fresh blood, though if it was from the victims or from the hospital supplies, he wasn't sure. They walked silently down a corridor, L noticing Light systematically check every room they passed for signs of vampires. L knew that the vampires were located on the second and third floors, not on the ground level they were currently on, but there was no way he could tell Light that without giving himself away.

They approached a slightly closed door and Light raised one of his stakes into a defensive position as he nudged the door open with his foot. The smell of fresh blood bombarded them, causing L's stomach to growl hungrily and his fangs to lengthen, and Light to drop his defensive position as he bent down to inspect the remains of a female patient.

She was lying sprawled at the doorway, machine cords scattered upon the bed and floor as it appeared she had tried to make an escape before encountering death. Her skin was pale, the only blood was that which stained the hospital clothing she wore and the skin around her shredded throat and pooled upon the white floor. L knew she had been dead some time even before Light stood and shook his head in the universal negative sign.

"How did Light know that she wasn't going to rise again?" L asked as they left the room, his thumb to his lips as he swiftly began hiding his vampiric traits. When a person was changed into a vampire, during the transition phase every wound healed over, a fresh slate, if they were blind they gained sight, if they were deaf they gained hearing. L wasn't aware that the hunters knew what signs to look for. That and every vampire knew that a newly to-be-turned had perfect scars from fangs over their pulse until they awoke and the scars faded. If the hunters knew that then L would need to inform the others that no to-be-turned fledgling should be left alone if they wanted them to arise. The hunters could put a stop to that even before the fledgling opened their eyes.

"For a hunter who's survived this long on his own, I'm surprised you never worked it out for yourself. They have scars from the fangs above their pulse point. That lady had none, and her wound wasn't healed. She was a meal, nothing more." Light pushed another door open and they found themselves looking at a stairwell. Drops of drying blood splattered on every other step, but there was no sign of a body. "Come on," Light began walking up the stairs, not once checking to see if L was following him.

_'If I want to be able to save or even talk to the fledglings I'm going to have to separate from Light in a way for it not to seem to suspicious.'_ L followed Light up the stairs, but when Light went through the door that led to the first floor, L continued on to the second; knowing that there were no vampires on the floor Light had just reached. _'Now I can find the fledglings without having to watch over Light, and it appears as though the others have entered the morgue.'_

Opening the door to the second floor L entered and found a scene of chaos. Blood smeared not only the floor but walls and doors as well, papers lay discarded and chairs were tipped over. Machines beeped the incessant signal of a patient who had flat-lined. Doctors, nurses, patients and visitors lay crumpled upon the floors and beds. Low footsteps could be heard and L instinctively allowed his vampiric traits to flood his features and aura, knowing that even the confused fledglings would acknowledge his power. There were ten of them on this floor, eleven above. The ten bloodstained fledglings came to surround him, features obscured in blood but the fangs and wild looks in their eyes enough to tell L that they were already lost to the blood-lust. They couldn't be reasoned with, they could no longer be saved.

…


End file.
